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How Envision Group Helps Mission-Driven Brands Launch Into Non-Traditional Retail 

Non-traditional retail venues such as offices, sporting arenas, and schools offer brands unique opportunities to connect with engaged audiences. However, navigating this distribution channel can be a challenge for emerging brands. Fortunately, Compass USA, one of the largest food service companies in the world, has developed solutions to help these brands navigate this complex distribution channel with its Envision Group and Retail Incubator program.  

In this Q&A with ECRM’s Wayne Benett, Ann Pendleton, SVP of Compass USA and a key leader of the Envision Group, shares valuable insights into how the company operates, and how emerging, mission-driven brands can break into these non-traditional channels and thrive. 

Watch the full video interview here!

RangeMe: Can you give us an overview of Compass USA and your role within the organization?

Pendleton: Compass USA is one of the world’s largest food service companies, but we’re not a consumer-facing brand, so not everyone knows us by name. We operate behind the scenes, providing food and beverage solutions in places like schools, hospitals, corporate offices, and sporting venues. Essentially, wherever people work, play, study, or receive care, we’re there making sure they have a great food experience.

My role is with the Envision Group, which …

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Get More Press By Making Your Products Newsworthy – Here’s How!

Using PR as a marketing method for product launch requires an understanding of what is newsworthy and what is not. Whether you’re an accomplished PhD or an enterprising young person starting out with a fantastic product, most people don’t understand this. Once I explain it, however, you’ll be able to pick up the phone to a reporter at the Wall Street Journal or Buzzfeed and have an actual conversation instead of being blown off.

There’s nothing worse than calling a reporter and regaling them with a description of your product’s features and benefits, followed by, “It’s so newsworthy!” Did the reporter hang up on you? Yeeeeeah (cringe).

Editorial versus advertising

A little background: You should understand what editorial is versus advertising—the latter known as “buys.” 

Editorial content is (ideally) not subject to being bought—it is manifested in the form of unbiased reporting or the earned opinion of a reporter or producer. This is the content between commercials on TV, articles on dot-coms that are interrupted by popups, the organic listings on Google under the ads on the top, magazine feature stories between ads, etc.

Advertising includes anything you pay for—such as pay-per-click, influencers, banner ads, radio, TV, newspaper ads, endorsements, …

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When a retailer asks, “What is your food safety management plan?” you need to be ready with a clear and confident answer. For emerging brands, having a comprehensive food safety management plan is not only essential for compliance, but also for building trust with retailers and consumers. In a market where food safety concerns are high, buyers want to know your product is safe and reliable.

While food safety may not be top of mind as you develop your product, it is a critical factor in ensuring long-term success. Here’s why a food safety management plan should be a priority for your growing brand:

1. Building buyer confidence

Retailers are prioritizing food safety more than ever. A robust food safety management plan signals to buyers that you take quality production seriously. Certifications like SQF (Safe Quality Food) can make your brand more attractive to retailers, as many large buyers require some form of food safety certification. This commitment to food safety helps build trust, making your product a more desirable option on the shelf.

2. Ensuring compliance and reducing risk

With increasing regulatory demands from agencies like the FDA, having a food safety management plan ensures you stay compliant and …

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RangeMe to Highlight the Top Brands on its Platform in retailmediaIQ Partnership

Subscribers of retailmediaIQ’s MMR and Chain Drug Review can now learn which CPG brands are garnering the most interest from buyers across the categories of food and beverage, health and beauty care, and general merchandise with the monthly RangeMe Top Brands reports that will be published on the magazine’s websites and in select issues. 

RangeMe tracks buyer activity across profiles of the 250,000 brands on its platform to see which ones are garnering the most interest among retailers. The Top 50 Brands chart represents those brands that have driven the most engagement from buyers that are actively searching for new products, and is a leading indicator of the types of products we can expect to see on store shelves in the coming months and years. 

Brand selection is determined by the number of approved submissions from RangeMe’s Immediate Opportunity campaigns. These are campaigns hosted by retailers via RangeMe to meet a specific need – typically category-focused or around a theme such as sustainability, private label or supplier diversity. More than 350 campaigns are held throughout the year, drawing over 40,000 submissions and 9,000 approvals from retailers. All RangeMe Starter, Premium and Pro subscribers can submit products to Immediate Opportunities (Starter …

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Six Innovative New RangeMe Suppliers Land Deals with Co-op’s Incubator Program

Six exciting new suppliers hit Co-op shelves this past November month following the UK convenience retailer’s search for a fresh wave of values-led, quality and innovative food and drink businesses to participate in its mentoring and support scheme, the Apiary. The producers, which submitted their products via RangeMe, now have their brands stocked in more than 100 Co-op food stores as they become the third wave of suppliers to benefit through Co-op’s Incubator program.

“Seeing these innovative new products hit Co-op shelves is always an exciting time for our Apiary program. We know shoppers in a convenience setting look for great quality and innovation – products that make life easier, can be consumed on-the-go, or offer an element of indulgence,” said Rebecca Oliver-Mooney, Co-op Head of Commercial for Drinks, Frozen, Community Buying & the Apiary. “We believe making it easier for early stage businesses to become retail ready and thrive is the right thing to do, not only to delight our members and customers in store, but helping more producers grow towards their goal of becoming challenger brands. Going live in store is a key milestone for these brands, it is the beginning of the next chapter for the suppliers …

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How GLP-1 Use is Creating Opportunities in the Vitamin & Supplements Category

We see the ads everywhere: Ozempic. WeGovy. Rybelsus. Mounjaro. They are on our televisions. Filling up our social media feeds. In Super Bowl spots. Relative newcomers like Ro and Hers – low cost versions from the two telemedicine giants – are plastered on billboards and ads in the trains I take regularly in NYC.

Even South Park has featured them. In a recent episode titled, “The End of Obesity,” Kyle and the other South Park kids turned a garage into a compounding pharmacy to create an affordable version of semaglutide to meet the huge demand from the locals.

You know that something has become part of the zeitgeist when South Park pokes fun at it.

At last year’s ECRM Vitamin, Weight Management & Sports Nutrition Session, there was not one mention of GLP-1 in all of the conversations I had with buyers and sellers. At this past September’s Session, however, it was the main topic of conversation. 

GLP-1’s impact on retail

The reason for all the buzz this past year is that this GLP-1 use is exploding, resulting in a noticeable impact on how consumers are shopping at retail. And while this impact hits all areas of the store, the …

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